Maureen Okang Okon & Ogar, Pauline Anya
Abstract
This paper investigated the influence of teachers’ self-perception and knowledge of inclusive education on classroom practices among primary school teachers. To achieve this, two research questions and two hypotheses were used to guide the study. 147 teachers (47 males and 100 females) constituted the sample of the study drawn from the population of primary school teachers in Ogoja Education zone using random sampling technique. Ex-post facto design was adopted for the study. A questionnaire with three sub-scales titled Teachers’ Self-perception, Knowledge of Inclusive Education and Classroom Practices Questionnaire (TSPKIECPQ) was validated and tested for reliability using the Cronbach Alpha reliability test. This yielded the following estimates: 0.72 for self-perception; 0.81 for knowledge of inclusive education and 0.76 for teachers’ classroom practices. Data generated from the questionnaire administered to the subjects were coded and analyzed using One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results of data analysis revealed significant influences of teachers’ self-perception and knowledge of inclusive education on classroom practices adopted by teachers. The implications of this results suggests that teachers self-perception and their knowledge of inclusive education are important for their success in teaching effectively using appropriate and effective classroom practices. This in effect will result to their achievement of goals of inclusion. It was recommended among other things that teachers particularly regular classroom teachers used in inclusive setting be given training through workshops and seminars.